17% of people who book their trips online have suffered scams

• This data is extracted from a survey conducted by the company S2 Grupo. In this survey, 21.9% of those surveyed stated that they did not have accommodation booked online because it did not exist.
• S2 Grupo experts have warned that cybercriminals take advantage of the large number of trips made on these dates to increase their action.

Valencia, 23 December 2019.- Christmas is one of the times of the year when most trips are made and more and more people make online reservations. For this reason, S2 Grupo, a company specialized in cybersecurity and critical systems management, has stressed the importance of being cautious when carrying out these steps to avoid falling into scams promoted by cybercriminals. In a survey conducted through its blog Hijosdigitales.es, 16.6% of the participants said that they had been victims of some type of fraud when booking their vacations online. Of these, 26.9% said that the accommodation chosen was much worse or completely different from what could be seen in the images of the website where the management was carried out. Along with this, 21.9% said that their problem was worse because they were outright without any accommodation because it did not exist. “Before making a reservation for a trip, a flight, an accommodation, it is essential to take a very simple action, but one that can prevent us from getting upset. It is simply checking the opinions of other people about this tour operator or hosting company, for example, or also checking that we are on the official website. We can be victims of a phishing action, believing that we are buying flights on the official website and yet actually doing so on another platform that has been falsified by cybercriminals”, explained José Rosell, managing-partner of S2 "Another problem at this time of year, just like in the summer, is that through social networks we give a lot of information about whether we are at home or not. Every year, the number of burglaries in homes on designated days such as Christmas Eve, Christmas or New Year's Eve, for example, is remarkable. For this reason, we recommend not to use geolocation in the posts that are made and to be cautious with the information that is shared", said Miguel A. Juan, managing-partner of S2 Grupo. According to data taken from another survey conducted by the company, 21.5% of users claim to share their travel photos in real time on social networks, which may pose a risk to the safety of individuals and their homes. More information: prensa@s2grupo.es